Flexible support for artificial legs



s. J. DEW 2,381,265

FLEXIBLE SUPPORTS FOR 'ARTL FICIAL LEGS Filed NOV. 18, 1943 artificiallegs.-

mounting. 1

Patented Aug. 7, 1945 l SUPPORT FOR ARTIFICIAL LEGS Stanley J. Dew,Toronto, Ontario; Canada Application November 18, 1943, Serial No.510,727 In Canada October 13, 1943 This invention relates to flexiblesupports for Up to the present time'it has been gener on the leg a metalfitting hinged at the topv of the leg and curved to coincide. with theshape of the body, the said metal fitting. being connected with a beltand/or Connected with a shoulderharness; This type-of support hasseveral disadvantages. In one case it is apparent that the rigid ironfitting disposed adjacent the hip and pivoted at one point at the sideer of the leg. He must always bend the leg atthe hip in accordancewith'the relatively fixed single pivot point whereas in sitting down hemust sit in; a particularposition otherwise the metal fitting tends todig into the body and render the wearer of the leg uncomfortable. Apartfrom this such a fitting restricts the natural movement of theleg,making it difflcult to bend the knee in any substantially natural man-'ner and prevents the wearer of the leg from moving the leg sidewise suchas across the other leg or awayirom the other leg in a lateral direc-'tion. This is so becausethe rigid metal fitting necessarily restrictsmovement in either such direction.

ally the practice to support'artificial legs by using Y of the legrestrictsthe movement of the wearanchoring member and the leg,

\ com (01.3-11) Y With these and other objects in view the inventiongenerally comprises flexible'means interposed between the artificial legand an anchoring point onthe body of the wearer permitting relativelyfree'movement of the artificial leg in all directions.

The invention will be readily understood by reference to the followingdetailed specification taken in conjunction. with the accompanyingdrawing.

In the drawing: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved flexiblesupporting means for artificial legs sche-- matically illustrating theconnection between an shown fragmentarily. V

. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the flexible-supporting means whenmountedand viewing the wearer from the rear. 7 I

. Referring to the drawing, A indicates the artiflcial leg and Bindicates a suitable belt worn The use of shoulder harness placesconsiderable burden on the wearer inasmuch as the harness tends to shiftwith diflzerent movements of the body and imposes considerable strain onthe wearer, apart .from the disadvantages outlined in 4 respect to themetal fitting. It istherefore obvious, that the methods of support forartificial. legs hitherto employed are open to considerable fimprovement.

The disadvantages outlined areentirely eliminated according, to thepresent invention. therefore,,an object of the present invention toprovide a movable support for artificial legs which eliminates rigidfittings and permltsasnear the normal operation of they leg as ispossible. I

Aiurther object of the invention is to eliminate a any necessity forshoulder harness in-supporting a leg of this character."

A still further object of the invention. is to provide a flexiblesupport'for artificial legs which may becarried entirely by a simplebelt, if desired, employing a flexible yielding connection between thebelt and the leg such that the wearer may act normally withoutrequiringto move in a restricted manner as dictated by fixed points ofIt is,

with the flexible connecting member in an, ad-'.

by the wearer and designed to snugly fit his hips. At spaced apartpoints around the belt B, pulleys III, II, l2, l3 and H are mounted.Correspondingly adjacent the top of the leg pulleys l5, l6, l1; l8 andI9 are moun'ted'and located preferably to one side of the correspondingpulley on the belt B. Pulley I9 is preferably locatedat a point belowthe level of the pulleys Iii-i8. A flexible connecting member C isdesigned to be threaded through the series of pulleys as shown so thatit will ride over the'pulleys Ill-44 and under the pulleys l5--l9. Thefree ends .of the flexible connecting member C are designed to beconnectedtogether' after being threaded through the "system of pulleysand they are connected in a manner such that they may be detached fromone another. This'may be accomplished in any suitable way and inthepresent illustration a snap hook 20 and ring 2| are illustrated for thispurpose, Moreover, the connection between the ring 2i and/or the snapbook 20 may be made justable manner so that if 'desirable-the length ofthe flexible'member in respect to its supporting characteristics may bevalid. It is, therefore, apparent that the flexible member is subject toadjustment. a

When the flexible connecting member is mounted in its proper position asshown particularly in v Fig. 1 the leg A is firmly pulled and held inposition on the stump and, subject to any possible slight stretching ofthis flexible member which can-be taken care of by adjustment, thismemher always function to hold the leg in its the latter being properposition. Moreover, as is clearly evident merely from a consideration ofthe drawing, any movement of the artificial leg will result in acorresponding shifting of the flexible connecting member C as it willreadily respond to such movement and move around the mounting pulleys.Therefore, if the wearer desires to raise the artificial leg forwardlyby bending at the hip it is clearly evident that any pull on theflexible connector C effected, for instance, from the point of mountingof pulley l9, will result in the cable merely shifting accordingly in anatural manner around the various pulleys to compensate for the changein position of the limb from that shown in Fig. 1 to the new position.Moreover, the shifting of the member C will be to a greater or lesserdegree in accordance with the degree of movement of the artificial leg.Furthermore,

- when the wearer sits down thus varying the position of the artificialleg from normal upright position substantially to its greatest degree,this shift of the connecting member C will permit the change in any easynatural manner. Likewise, movement of the leg laterally to the right orto the left will be compensated for naturally in substantially the sameway.

The pulleys in some instances are positioned at different levels. Forinstance, the pulley I9 is positioned at a point substantially lower onthe leg A than the pulleys l-l8 in order to increase the leverage. 0nthe other hand, it is preferable to position the intermediate pulleysII, I! and IS on the belt B slightly lower and substantially on a gradeas this lends to a freer movement of the flexible member. Furthermore,it is preferable to have a series of five pulleys so as to provide for asuspension member C of substantial length, thus to avoid any tendency topull when the wearer sits down which changes the position of the legfrom normal upright to substantially horizontal position so far as thetop portion of the leg is concerned.

While it is preferred to use pulleys thus eliminating friction on theflexible connector C and providing for easy free movement, it could be,of course, threaded through suitable guides without departing from thespiritof the present invention.

From the foregoing it is obvious that my. in-' vention provides for a.free substantially natural movement of an artificial leg by reason of asimple free movingrflexible support which must respond in asubstantially natural manner to any movement of the leg.

What I claim as my invention is:

' 1. Means for attaching an artificial legcomprising'in combination withan artificial leg a body encircling member, endless flexible meansextending between the artificial limb and said body encircling member tohold said limb in position, and means forconnecting said flexiblemeanswith said limb and body encircling member to cause a compensating.shifting of said endless flexible means responsive to any movementimparted to said limb.

2. Means for attaching an artificial leg comprising in combinationwithan artificial leg :1 body encircling member, a series of membersvanprising in combination with an artificial leg a body encirclingmember, a series of pulleys anchored to said body encircling member atspaced apart points and a series of pulleys anchored adjacent to the topof the artificial leg and flexible means extending between the pulleyson the bodyencircling member and the pulleys on the leg to hold the legon the stump of the wearer, said flexible means being free to shiftaround said pulleys responsive to any movement imparted to theartificial leg to permit the latter to be freely moved.

4. Means for attaching an artificial leg' comprising in combination withan artificial leg a belt member designed to encircle the hipsof thewearer, a series of members anchored to said belt at spaced apart pointsand a series of members Y anchored adjacent to thetop of the artificialleg corresponding in number to those on the belt and a flexibleconnector passing over the members on the belt and the members on theleg and connected to form an endless flexible connector suspending theleg from the belt, said flexible con-.

nector acting to hold-the leg on the stump of the wearer and being freeto shift around said members responsive to any movement imparted to theartificial leg, to permit the latter to be freely moved.

5. Means for attaching an artificial leg comprising in combination withan artificial leg a beltmember designed to encircle the hips of thewearer, a series of pulleys anchored to said belt at spaced apart pointsand a series of pulleys anchored adjacent to the top of the artificialleg corresponding in number to those on the belt and a flexibleconnector threaded around the pulleys on the belt and the pulleys on theleg and connected to form an endless flexible connector suspendingtheleg from the belt, said flexible connector acting to hold the leg onthestump of the wearer and being free to shift around said pulleysresponsive to any movement-imparted tothe artificial leg, to permit thelatter to be freely moved. a v

6. Means for attaching an artificial leg comprising a belt memberdesigned to encircle the hips of the wearer, a series of membersanchored to said body encircling member at spaced apart pointsand aseries of members designed, to be anchored at spaced apart points on theupper portion of an artificial leg and endless flexible means threadedthrough both series of members to permit a free floating movement of theendless flexible means in said members when said second series .ofmembers is anchored on a leg and it is applied on the body of a wearer.

STANLEY J. DEW.

